I’m at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF), an institution in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS), participating in the Earned Release Program (ERP). Thursday started off with high hopes that the day would end with me being a free man, sleeping in a bed of my own after having eaten real food. As you may have guessed, it didn’t happen. Nothing of significance happened again until the afternoon, when our ERP social worker Ms. Grey dropped by. She told Dean Stark he was being picked up tomorrow (Friday). No word for me or anybody else though. I asked her about the email she said she had sent to my parole officer (PO), Helen Gaither and she needed to be prompted until she remembered. She didn’t answer whether or not the email had been answered just saying that “my paperwork is not back yet!” She just isn’t very forthcoming with information, almost as she seems to enjoy seeing us squirm while waiting for information. But that wasn’t all the bad news. The blog sponsor who is to pick me up at the bus station will be unable to pick me up this coming Monday due to work requirements. As much as I don’t want anything to delay my departure I asked my sponsor to contact my PO and let Ms. Gaither know I wouldn’t have a ride on Monday. I also asked to find out if Ms. Gaither got the email from Ms. Grey. My confidence in Ms. Grey continued to be shaken as she handed out a piece of paper wanting to know what the address we were going to be released to was. It seems no one could be released without that information in the system. I had asked about this last week but she indicated she didn’t know how MSDF would get this info. But this should have been done weeks ago. Since today was Thursday, it was Community Meeting day. Though we have graduated, we are still required to attend though none of us participated. They were breaking in a new meeting leader so it was a bit chaotic. One thing of interest was they are changing the ERP program schedule. Now starting at 8 am groups will start and somehow all the groups will spend at least an hour a day in the smelly rec room that our group has used for a group room for the last 6 months. That was quite interesting to my group. But all of this uncertainty with release has me in a foul mood. I think its anxiety finding its voice or crankiness. I try to keep reminding myself that its almost over and that they have to let me go at some point. It’s just not easy to do.